Three years after the events in the Patlabor The Movie, a terrorist organization starts committing acts of domestic terrorism in the midst of growing unrest and chaos. The disbanded Special Vehicles Unit 2 is reassembled to uncover a terror-inciting conspiracy to safeguard Japan's peace.

The second feature film of the classic 90s sci-fi anime franchise greatly diverges from the past iterations in tone. Whereas the original OVA, TV series and first feature film aimed to invigorate and reconstruct the sci-fi genre, the feature film sequel is a powerful reflection on the politics and society of 20th century post-war Japan. It is possibly director Mamoru Oshii and the Headgear collective's magnum opus, and undeniably a landmark of the 1990s anime pantheon.